Whiskey Lullaby
by Iris Belle
Summary: Based on the song. A short one-shot about the explosive tempers of Hermione and Severus. WARNING: Character death, OOC, AU.


AN: I am still in the process of writing **The China Garden**, but I love this song – "Whiskey Lullaby," by Braid Paisley and Alison Krauss. I'm not usually a country-song lover, but this song (and the music video, which I recently watched) makes me cry every time I hear it. Enjoy~ This will just be a short one-shot. WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH! Rated for language and situations. It may seem OOC and I don't know if people are allowed to be buried on Hogwarts grounds, but for the purpose of this story, please bear with me! Thank you =]

Disclaimer: The song does not belong to me – it belongs to Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss (I THINK!). The characters are, of course, not mine either … they belong to the brilliant JK Rowling!

**Whiskey Lullaby**

"I never want to see you again," she hissed, her eyes full of anger and hate.

He stood to the side, next to the door. "Is this for real this time, or are you just throwing another immature tantrum?"

"How _dare_ you accuse me of acting childish, Severus!" Hermione screamed shrilly. "_You're_ the one who continually sleeps with women for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

"As I told you before, _Miss Granger_, I am not a good person. I am a Death Eater, and we are required to do many things. We already spoke about this before we started our relationship and before we married," he reminded her. By referring to her as a mere schoolchild again, he hoped that she would come to her senses.

"This relationship is through. I don't give a bloody damn about whether or not our marriage was a matter of convenience as a front for the Dark Lord, but you very well know that I love you! Was it a lie when you told me you loved me, too?" Hermione kept screaming, her voice growing hoarse. Her eyes were red from crying.

Finding Severus in bed with another woman – even though she was a Death Eater and the Snapes' marriage was just a cover to protect them and their love – had shattered Hermione's heart. She knew he had to regularly have sex with other women to ensure that his spy status and she was safe, but finding them in her marriage bed was just too much.

"If that is how you will continually view this marriage, then fine. We are through. Be rest assured that I am _never_ coming back to you. Expect annulment papers tomorrow."

With that, Severus Snape turned his heel and walked out the door, leaving Hermione's life.

She stared at the door, and broke into sobs.

True to his word, Severus sent Archimedes, his owl, to her in the morning with annulment papers. She glanced dully at it, and just signed it without reading through it. It was uncharacteristic of her to be so careless like that, and little did she know that it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

She hadn't slept that evening; she cried until there were no more tears left. She sat on the ground, where she had collapsed after Severus left. Sitting still and breathing quietly, she looked a mess – her hair was in a state of disarray, her clothes were clinging to her from the sweat and tears, her eyes were bloodshot.

Feigning illness, she sent a note through the Floo to the Department of Potions and Creations at the Ministry of Magic, which she was actually the assistant head of.

She stiffened as she realized who the note would go to; but no matter. He wouldn't care.

I need to see Ron, she thought frantically.

She immediately Flooed to Harry and Ron's bachelor pad.

--

Severus sat at home in Spinner's End. His heart was broken – why couldn't she understand? It wasn't as if he gained any pleasure from fucking those Death Eater whores. He thought she was a rational human being, someone who could use her _logic_ and realize that she was the only one for his mind, body, and soul.

He sighed. Maybe sending those annulment papers so quickly was a rash decision, but he hoped that she wouldn't read them. Then maybe he would somehow get her back …

As soon as he received the signed annulment papers from her, he stood up from his chair where he, too, had spent a sleepless night, he decided to go visit Potter – as her best friend, he would know what to do. He had the upper hand right now, with these annulment papers, and he had to know what the wisest move would be.

But as he Flooed over, he did not and could not have expected the sight before him – his ex-wife of barely an hour, lip-locked to the red-head.

She broke away from Ron, staring at Severus with wide eyes. "Severus …"

"I see that you lied to me when you said you loved me. Good day, Miss Granger. Good day, Mr. Weasley."

He disappeared back into the Floo.

Hermione tried to chase after him – "SEVERUS! SEVERUS!"

Ron watched as she ran to the fireplace, frantically trying to get the Floo to work. He sighed sadly; he was the only one who was home when she stumbled through the fireplace, eyes red. He figured he shouldn't have taken advantage of her when she was in such a state, but … he loved her. He was waiting for Snape to make a mistake, waiting on the sidelines for her to come back to him …

But watching her sobbing hysterically at his fireplace, he knew that that would never happen.

--

Severus never forgave Hermione for kissing Ron.

He immediately resigned from Hogwarts as the Potions Master, and resigned as the Head of the Department of Potions and Creations (which was just a formality, anyway, for the Potions Master at Hogwarts).

All he did was stay at Spinner's End, drinking Firewhiskey and cursing the day that she was born. Cursing the day that he took the Mark. Cursing the day that he fell in love with her.

Albus and Minerva came from time to time to check on him; every time, he seemed worse. It seemed as if a broken heart was eating away from the inside, a little at a time. His face got even more gaunt; his skin paled considerably; his frame was much too thin for a man who used to be quite filled out.

But they knew the stubbornness of the professor; nothing they could say or do would ever convince him to come back to life.

Not when his heart had been broken like that.

He heard that she was looking for him; he threw up wards to prevent anyone but Albus and Minerva from coming through. He knew – he just _knew_ – that she had been waiting for him to do something like this so she could go back to her ex lover, someone who was her own age and handsome and willing to bed only her.

'My fault,' he repeated in his mind. 'My fault.'

He resorted to drinking Firewhiskey until he was going through two to three bottles a day. The alcohol in his body was what was killing him; all that he knew was that Firewhiskey dulled the pain of losing her, the only good thing that ever happened in his life.

The last time that Albus and Minerva ever saw him alive, he was completely broken. They were completely shocked and unnerved to see Severus on the floor, holding a picture frame close to his chest as he wept softly, a broken bottle of Firewhiskey lying next to him on the floor.

The next day, he was gone.

--

"Albus! To what do I owe this sudden pleasure?" she said, looking up from her book when the Floo flared up.

He looked grave. "Miss Granger," he began quietly. "I don't know where to begin…"

She frowned. She let the book fall to the ground – after Severus left, she no longer cared about anything. "What do you mean?"

"I am here to inform you of the day and time for the funeral of a former Hogwarts professor…" he continued hesitantly.

Her eyes widened. No. It couldn't be.

"…Severus Snape."

Complete and utter silence met Albus's words.

"No," she whispered. "No. It can't be…"

Albus shook his head. "I am truly sorry for your loss, Miss Granger. My condolences."

He knew he shouldn't have left her. But he had to.

On a cloudy Saturday, Severus was buried beneath the Whomping Willow, which had quieted specifically for this service.

At the funeral, everyone stared at her. She was wearing black, and she stood near the coffin as the wife of the deceased. She was pale and shaking, but she was not crying.

Everyone at the funeral whispered and pointed at her furtively. But she saw – she knew about the rumors. That she had killed him. That she had driven him to madness with her know-it-all Gryffindor attitude.

But she knew what killed him – a broken heart.

She blamed herself for his death; she did not do anything anymore. Her funds ran low after she quit her job; her house was a disgusting mess; she did not see anyone.

Harry came to check on her a couple months after the funeral, when he had returned from a mission abroad. He heard about everything that had happened – he didn't know how to handle it. He took her into his arms, regardless of how filthy she was, and let her cry into his embrace.

When she was sleeping on a Scourgified bed, he went downstairs to check on the rest of her house, and immediately began shooting cleaning spell after cleaning spell.

The one thing he did notice was the Firewhiskey bottles that littered the floor. Most of them were broken, with what looked to be dried blood on the shards.

He sighed sadly. Severus – and his death – had broken his best friend. She who never drank alcohol, she who never was dirty …

He decided to go ask Ginny if it was all right that they take care of Hermione for a little while. The newlyweds still had an empty bedroom, so if they fixed it up, they could watch over her and make sure she came back to health.

"Ginny?" he called out, undoing his robe and leaving his bag on the floor. "Ginny, where are you?"

"Here." Ginny popped out from behind a door, and crinkled her nose. "_What _is that smell?

"I just saw Hermione," he said. "I was holding her … I didn't even notice how bad she smelled."

Ginny's eyes glistened. "Oh, Harry … what are we to do?"

"Do you think it would be okay if we brought her here? So we can keep an eye on her?"

Ginny nodded. "Of course – I'll go with you to collect her. The guest bedroom is ready, anyway."

They Flooed back to Hermione's place. Ginny gasped as she saw the still-dirty house – no matter how much Harry Scourgified, there was only so much that he could do.

"Oh, Harry, I feel horrible … we should have come earlier to check on her!"

"She's upstairs. Let's go get her, and we'll make up for it, okay?"

As they quietly trudged up the dingy stairs, there was an unnatural silence in the house.

Harry and Ginny both looked at each other, and ran for the bedroom. When they got to the open door, they both stood still, horrified by the sight before them.

Hermione lay on the bed, her face down in the pillow. Unmoving.

Ginny approached first, taking out her wand and doing a stasis spell on Hermione's body. She tried to save her; but it was too late. She was already gone.

Harry stared at his best friend's body. He felt numb.

'Hermione…'

--

She, too, was buried underneath the Whomping Willow. Harry and Ron, with stony expressions, stood near the coffin as her best friends. Others there wept, knowing that their rumors had not helped the poor girl's grief.

At her funeral, Voldemort attacked. Through the love that he had for Hermione and the hate he felt for Voldemort for her undoing, he killed him and got rid of Voldemort once and for all.

It was day of celebration, but no one celebrated.

Before he left, Harry looked back at the two graves one last time.

'Severus Tobias Snape. Born January 9, 1960, died November 19, 2000. The best Potions Master England has ever seen.'

'Hermione Jean Granger. Born September 19, 1979, died December 20, 2000. Dearly beloved friend and wife.'

He smiled sadly. "I hope you two find each other, and forgive each other. At least live happily ever after in the afterlife."

With that, he continued on home. He would live his life twice as hard for her; he would honor her memory.

When Harry's first child came to Hogwarts, he went to the Whomping Willow to pay respects to the aunt he never knew. Making his way out of the dormitories late at night with his father's invisibility cloak and his own wand, he hoped to get back safely – he wouldn't be able to go here at any other time.

As he approached the Whomping Willow, the tree somehow sensed the boy's purpose, and relaxed.

He placed the two bouquets of flowers – one of roses and the other of herbs – on each respective grave.

"Aunt Mione, I never knew you, but Dad told me to come and say hello to you. I hope you and Uncle Severus have made up by now, and are living happily together in the next life," James Potter solemnly said.

Satisfied with what he told the graves, he turned to leave when he caught sight of a light near the back of the Willow.

He slowly made his way to the back, and his eyes widened.

There, in front of him, were the ghosts of his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Severus. He just knew it was them.

He watched as the two ghosts approached each other, hesitantly at first, and then they ran into each other's arms, hugging for dear life.

As he turned away to give them privacy, he felt the wind caress his cheek, and heard a distant lullaby.

He smiled.

He had a letter to write.

--


End file.
